Posted: 11/20/2010 5:22:20 PM EDT
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My 10 YO THF-6A is finally about to need replacing. So...What kind of ideas do ya'll have for a dual band, or more, Handheld?
I want a wideband receive. Want decent battery life. Don't care about APRS. Which means it is worth nothing to me. Won't rule out a radio, but won't pay extra for it. I want one where I can hear FM broadcast stations a good ways away. Price isn't a huge concern. Ok, What would you get? |
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Quoted:
For general comms the FT-60 is imho the quintessential HT. if you dont need duel band recieve this is a great radio. but by wideband RX what do you mean? some of the newer ones tune in the broadcast FM stations,, or more.. I got my 60 after my old Icom W-32 gave up the ghost. that was duel band recieve, crossband repeat and opened up. dont' miss any of those features.. |
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Quoted:
My 10 YO THF-6A is finally about to need replacing. So...What kind of ideas do ya'll have for a dual band, or more, Handheld? I want a wideband receive. Want decent battery life. Don't care about APRS. Which means it is worth nothing to me. Won't rule out a radio, but won't pay extra for it. I want one where I can hear FM broadcast stations a good ways away. Price isn't a huge concern. Ok, What would you get? FT-60R - Doesn't receive FM. FT-250R - 2m monobander. FT-270R - 2m monobander. FT-277R - 70cm monobander. VX-3R - QRP HT. VX-6R - Tri band. Recieves AM and FM broadcast as well as NOAA weather channels. VX-7R - Think VX-6 with a magnesium case. VX-8DR - Drop the 1.25m band and add in 6m and APRS. VX-8GR - Drop the 6m band and add in a GPS. Your spare battery options for the VX-6 is something that may be important. There is an accessory to use two AA batts in place of the Ni-MHi. Cool but output drops to either 2.5 or 1.5w when on AA batts. |
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Quoted: VX-6R - Tri band. Recieves Dial will tune to AM and FM broadcast as well as NOAA weather channels. Fixed it for ya  My VX6 will dial in about anything. Actually receiving a signal is another matter. I'm about 40-50 mi from Cincinasty and can't get a single AM station. I can get my local FM station, though, which is about 4 mi away... YMMV. While I love that little radio, the "wideband receive" feature of it is near useless for me... -Slice |
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Granted the FM and AM reception of the VX-6 isn't the best in the world. It may do in a pinch if you have no other radio but it would be best to have a more dedicated broadcast receiver. Picked up a Eton FR360 and FR160 bubble packed together for $50 at one of the big box stores. The FR160 is small and light enough that I keep it in the go bag. Any ham HT is going to be compromise on RX of anything except ham bands.
One thing the VX-6 does pretty good is the NOAA WX channels. A feature is that it will scan the channels every so many seconds and when that annoying emergency tone is broadcast it will pick it up and lock on the station. |